before it the stacked muskets and pacing sentinel; the dusky savage
faces hiding behind every tree; the midnight assault: the lurid fire,
and the brandished tomahawk--these are pictures that have sometimes come
with startling vividness to our youthful imaginations. And then our
fancies have seen the so-called witches of Salem, the sudden arrest, the
hurrying to the jail and perhaps to the gallows.

To the older mind, these realities of the past have a deep and
ever-growing interest. The later periods of the Colony, the period of
the Revolution and the period immediately following, are increasingly
fertile in materials for the historian, the essayist, and the novelist.
To bring out into clearer light, to present in forms adapted to the mass
of readers, and to arouse a more lively interest in this history,
especially the romantic element of it, is one leading aim and intent of
this magazine. There are in existence various magazines devoted to New
England history, and which are of great value to the student and the
antiquary. The BAY STATE MONTHLY is not only this, it is a magazine
for the people; and throughout this State, and no less in many
others,--offsprings of this old Commonwealth,--it has received and
awaits a still more generous reception.

* * * * *

The custom of observing the anniversaries of the incorporation of towns
and cities in New England has become well established. In Massachusetts
there are a very few towns which have reached so important an epoch in
their history, as the quarter millennial of their corporate existence.
Several have celebrated their bi-centennials, while hardly a year passes
without the observance of one or more centennial anniversaries.